


Something New

by Multifandom_Baby



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
Genre: Angst, Cute, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Prom, Rina - Freeform, Rini is definitely NOT endgame, rina endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:29:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22024852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_Baby/pseuds/Multifandom_Baby
Summary: It’s prom night and everything clicks for Ricky and Gina.
Relationships: E.J. Caswell/Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	Something New

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this a rewrite of something I posted which i wasn’t happy with, but this feels better and much more organic! ❤️

It’s prom night and Gina is sat in her dress at her make-up desk, waiting for some no good boy, who she barely even knows, to pick her up. As she looks at herself in her mirror, she reminisces, thinking of that night two years ago, where she decided to go to homecoming with none other than EJ Caswell, not knowing why since it wasn’t romantic, also regretting it, but not because she wouldn’t have had that moment with Ricky in that car. That is who she thinks about, at the end of this era, where her life was just concerned with moving about and never forming any solid relationships, friendly or romantic. _**Until him.**_

She thinks about the one boy who asked if she was okay, when she never turned up and no one else did.

Ricky is at home, standing in his suit, looking at himself in the mirror, thinking about that same moment. Despite having talked with Gina frequently since then, nothing he wanted to happen ever happened. It’s prom now and maybe he’s too late. He may have already lost her. The one he wants anyway, because he has to get Nini, since he asked her to go to prom with him, not really knowing why he decided so. 

So he knocks on Nini’s front door, she opens it and there she is standing in her purple dress, with her done-up hair, her moms smiling in the hallway, but he feels nothing. She looks great but what once was there, no longer is. He thinks he knows who would make him feel that way again.

 _ **Gina**_.

Is it wrong to feel this way when you’re taking another person as your date to prom? _**Maybe**_.

Is it wrong to dump your date the hour before prom though? _**Definitely**_.

He concludes that he’s taking Nini. And that’s final.

So Ricky and Nini arrive at prom, after a pleasant enough drive, but once they enter that sweaty gym being used for prom, nothing is being said and the silence and glances at each other are a form of pure awkwardness, but also down to a realisation from Ricky; It’s definitely, for sure, no longer Nini.

Maybe she feels it too. He thinks everyone in that room can feel it, at this point.

He’ll at least try and have a nice night. After all, leaving her at prom alone, is the worst thing a kind man could do and not something Nini would do to him, surely.

“Punch?” asks Ricky, with a bright look on his face, breaking the tense silence. “Sure” Nini smiles uncertainly. “Right” Ricky looks into her eyes and spins his feet in the direction of the punch table, “I’ll be back” he points at the table. “Okay” she nods, catching the eyes of EJ as he walks past her, just as Ricky walks off.

At the punch table stands Ricky, contemplating the awkwardness of this night with Nini. The night that just isn’t how he thought prom would be when he watched High School Musical: Senior Year at 7 years old. As he was pouring some of the strawberry fruit punch into a cup, Gina walks through the door. She’s in a long red dress, and her hair is immaculate, doll like, but she’s also holding hands with a very average Joe, someone who Ricky doesn’t think will treat her well.

Ricky would treat her well. He knows that.

His mouth is left agape and he overfills his glass of punch, only taking his sight off of her when he realises his sleeve cuff is wet.

“Shit” he mutters under his breath.

Ricky leaves the punch, walking to the toilet to try and get the red stain out of his shirt, but when he turns the corner he see’s EJ, kissing Nini, when she was supposed to he his date. Ricky knows he no longer has feelings for her, but he still feels a pang of anger. And surely that’s okay? he thinks as he watches them smush faces.

He’s had a feeling of disappointment before but this time is different. This time, as a lump forms in his throat, he knows he needs to end the Ricky-Nini, will they? Won’t they? Saga. He needs to let her go. He needs to move on.

“Ahem” Ricky fake coughs, trying to get their attention. EJ and Nini both pop their heads up, and Nini looks Ricky dead in the eye, staring at him. “Ricky, I’m so sorry” she apologises, studying his reaction. “You know what Nini, don’t worry because tonight, I was thinking that us, this thing that has been going on for years, just isn’t working. I don’t think you’re for me anymore” Ricky walks over, feeling the biggest sense of relief when he tells her that. “and that’s okay” he looks deeply into Nini’s glassy, teary eyes. “No, we’ll work something out, this cannot be the end” Nini steps forward, looking at Ricky’s tensed up body. “Wait a minute, you said you were done, you came over to me and said you needed me” a flash of anger appearing on EJ’s face tells Ricky all he needs to know; she definitely said that to him. Whether it was tonight or years ago, he doesn’t know. But he doesn’t need too. “And I do” Nini shouted, realising what she just said in an instant when she see’s Ricky’s face scrunch up.

Now Ricky has heard that, he knows what he needs to tell her.

“You see, we need to get over this” he moves further down the hall, closer to the gym door as a tear trickles down his face. “I’m gonna leave, and you two are going to have a good night together, okay? Goodbye, Nini”.

 _ **Goodbye**_.

That’s it. It’s done.

Ricky rushes off, leaving EJ and Nini to figure out exactly what they are. And he doesn’t need to know or care for that outcome. As Ricky walks through the gym, he passes the table Gina is sat at, very clearly not having fun, just sitting, while her date chats to his friends, completely ignoring her. He walks past her table and goes through the gym doors, to leave the school, but an isolated Gina notices and realising that her date won’t even care enough about her to notice her as missing, she leaves.

There’s a boy, one she likes, who needs someone. Who wouldn’t ignore her. So she runs through the gym doors, not giving it a second thought, to catch Ricky up.

Gina steps out of East High, on an oddly cold summer’s night, to see Ricky sat in his car, alone, with the light on. She rushes over and knocks on his window, with force. “Hey Ricky! let me in, it’s cold” she smiles at him. Ricky’s head looks up at her and her glistening eyes, which have reflections of the outside fairy lights in them. “Hey” he unlocks the door, with a sad smile.

“So, what’s up? Why’d you leave?” Gina questions softly, having entered the car. “Nini was kissing EJ even though she was supposed to be my date” he sighs, looking into her eyes as she nods at him in understanding. “Well, do you know what I think?” Gina raises her eyebrow at him, smirking. “What?” Ricky laughs at her expression, knowing he was about to hear something he needs to hear, she’s always known what to say. “I think that you, Ricky Bowen, do not need Nini” She looks at him, intensely, “I also think that Nini never deserved you” Gina half smiles. “You’re too good for her is what I’m trying to get that” Gina looks out the car window, looking at the stars which surround them. “You know, I remember how I said a similar thing to you about EJ, when I thought he was actually your date to homecoming a few years ago. Maybe they deserve each other” he looks at Gina, who’s looking at the world, realising just how beautiful she is.

He’s always known but this time, it’s different. A brand new light.

“Yeah maybe” she takes her attention aways from the night sky, thinking about two years ago, when they found themselves in this same car. “You know what’s funny” Gina teases. “What?” Ricky asks with a cheesy grin. “We were both in this car about two years ago” she looks into his eyes, making him remember that same occasion. “Yeah we were, full circle huh” he realises, a satisfied look on his face” “Full circle” Gina smiles to herself and then to him. Ricky and Gina sit in the car, in silence, but it’s a comfortable silence.

Not an awkward silence like Ricky and Nini had.

Not a frustrating silence that Gina had with her date.

It was _**their**_ silence.

Maybe it was the fairy lights, or the sound of Perfect by Ed Sheeran playing loud enough in the gym so that it could be heard outside, but everything felt like it had fell into place. Ricky and Gina looked at each other, studied each other’s faces, and after some hesitation, they sealed this mutual feeling with a kiss.

For Ricky, it felt better than anything had felt with Nini, Gina was his for that moment.

For Gina, she felt everything in that moment click and she knew he was her’s.

As they pulled away they look at each other and smile, Gina laying her head on Ricky’s shoulder. “You know this entire thing started because of a musical and a pretty crappy homecoming two years ago right?” Ricky chuckles, kissing the top of her head. “Yep and I wouldn’t have it any other way” Gina snuggles into his shoulder.

A moment passes and Ricky thinks about was just happened, as he puts his arm around Gina. He’s thinking. He’s not sure what this is.

The start of something new? _**Maybe**_.

“So” Ricky pauses “are we an ‘ _ **us**_ ’ then?” he looks down at her, smiling nervously. “Yeah, _**us**_.” Gina reassures, lifting her head, fluffing his hair, and settling back down into his shoulder.

“ _ **Us**_ ” he smiles.

The start of something new? _**Definitely**_.

_25 Years Later_

“So I was thinking, take-out for dinner?” Gina announces, as she turns up the heater in the car sat outside East High. “Sounds great sweetheart” Ricky smiles as the car door clicks.

“Mom, Dad, guess what?” announces their daughter as she gets in the car.

 _ **Their daughter.**_ Their daughter who looks just like her mom, but has the same disposition of her dad.

“What baby” Gina looks at Ricky, wondering what their 16 year old is about to announce. “I got the lead in the musical!” she exclaims. “Honey, that’s amazing” Ricky puts his hand on her shoulder, looking at her excited face. “We’re so proud of you, girl” Gina looks back, smiling, but clearly emotional, and then starts the car, so they can go home.

The car ride was spent talking about their daughter’s lead role up until they arrived at their suburban home, with a picture perfect exterior. “And we’re home!” Gina stops the car. “You can go in honey, your little sister should be inside with the babysitter” Ricky gestures to the house “me and mom just have something to talk about, we’ll be in soon” he smiles, looking at her, and then at Gina. “Okay, I’ll go tell her my news!” she exits the car, running inside the house.

“So.” Gina pauses, somewhat in disbelief. “We have a daughter old enough to be doing a musical, in the same grade we did it in” she looks at Ricky, emotional over the fact that her baby is getting older. “Yeah we do” laughing in disbelief, putting his arms around his wife. “What are we gonna do?” Gina weakly smiles, pulling away from the hug, a tear coming out of her left eye. “Hey” Ricky wipes the tear off of her soft face. “I know, it’s just crazy” Gina turns the engine off. “Completely” Ricky then realises something else “You don’t think homecoming will be soon do you” clearly getting stressed “Because she is not going with Nini and EJ’s kid. I refuse it” he jokes to Gina, who can only laugh at what he just said. “Baby, I think that’s likely” she puts his hand in her’s and squeezes it, as a form of reassurance. “Wow. I don’t think we’re ready. I’m not sure if I’m ready to watch her grow up even more and go through the type if stuff we did” he admits softly, in somewhat of a whisper. “Something tells me we’ll be okay and so will she” she smiles back at him.

“ _ **Us**_?” he asks, looking into her eyes, that have aged with time, but remained bright. “ _ **Us**_ ” she ruffles his hair, that has strands of grey. They seal this with a kiss, similar to the one they shared years ago because nothing has changed.

Same feeling. Different time.

The start of something new? _**Definitely.**_

_fin **.**_

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is my rewrite of my first Rina fic! Feedback is appreciated 🥺❤️


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